Je ne vous oublierai pas...

Let's say it directly : Sweden has been one of the most wonderful experience I have ever lived. When I arrived to Sweden on August 19th, I had absolutely no idea of what was going to happen. But as time went on, I enjoyed it more and more, day after day. Some people used to say that I could not leave my country, my family, my friends, and my boyfriend for such a long time, but it does seem that I succeeded... Ten months abroad help one to see that life can have much more different goals than when you are at home. Moreover, I have been able to travel so much in such a short period of time. Sweden firstly opened its cities to a fragile French boy : Örebro and Stockholm in the first very months, and then other cities as Björkliden, Abisko, Kiruna, and Låktatjåkko, in Lappland, for an amazing week under the Arctic Polar Circle. Falun and Mora were also the opportunity to have a closer look at traditional Sweden, and finally Göteborg closed the chapter of the Swedish discoveries. Moreover, Sweden offered me the possibility to travel around, in Turku and Helsinki in Finland, Oslo in Norway, Saint-Petersburg and Moscow in Russia, and finally I visited Copenhagen and her famous "Little Mermaid"... In fact, these months I spent away from France were not only the opportunity to travel, but to see the world as it is, with different eyes. Sweden greeted me as a mother could have done it, and also offered me the opportunity to become more mature. I can not say that all my feelings of anxiety and wondering towards my future disappeared but they stopped to make my brain busy with futile questions...

Though I arrived alone with only twenty kilogrammes of luggage and my small body, there were also other exchange students coming from a large variety of countries. I became a really close friend to some and I admit that I have also never talked to some other ones. Thus, I have now invitations to travel even more and discover far away countries. Yukie, Tomohito, Satomi, Ayaka, Shiori, and the two Kaori, expect me to come to Japan and visit all of them. Popi and Ioanna want me to come to sunny Greece. Erik, Sofia, Susie, Anna, Tohedeh, and all the other Swedish men and women I know can hardly wait to meet me soon or late. I could also say that the Finnish guy called Tommy was a classmate who became a true friend for me... The list might be really long if I want it to be accurate but I do not want to forget anyone. Of course, there are also all the people who had to leave at the first semester like many Germans and Canadians : Axel, Estelle, Daniella, Grit, Bryan, and Julia. I also shall not forget the three beloved French female friends, Eva, Estelle, and Céline. Going to Sweden was first an opportunity to discover a different culture, but finally it has been much more discoveries than I had first expected. It seems even more cruel to leave this "international family" after we have been living so many great moments together, but we all came knowing that this experience would have an end, and here it is...

Right now I do not cry or feel sad ; my brain might easily try to hide the reality to myself. In fact, I am more wondering about what is going to happen when I will be back to France than anything else. I wish I could be accepted to the university of La Sorbonne in Paris since my forms have already been preselected. I come back to France on June 17th and have English tests on the 20th. Moving in in Paris would be another fantastic personal challenge for me and I would also like to continue studying Swedish language. For all that, I just feel that my life is too quiet. I know nothing about hard life since one could easily say that I grew up in silk sheets so that I do not really have any harms... The only big news of the last weeks has been that my blog has been elected "blog of the month" in the free gay newspaper of Paris. I am not seeking for success and fame but it has always been quite a dream to be able to become a journalist or a writer. Instead of that, I might be studying one last year to work finally in the international trade relations, which is also something I am interested in. Today, I am only looking through the window and I can see the rain pouring down over the Swedish nature. Even the weather seems to strengthen the nostalgia which fills up my head. But as the motto says, do not be sad because it ends, be happy because it happened...